Sunset Limited

Name	Sunset Limited
Start	New Orleans
End	Los Angeles
Distance	1,995 Miles
Duration	46 Hours
Creation	1894 by Southern Pacific Railroad, the oldest continuously operating named train in the US!

August 23

Off we go on the mirror image of the Empire Builder traveling along the southern border! Terri issued an ultimatum before setting off: either we upgrade to a roomette for this segment of the trip or she jumps ship and spends the rest of her days on Bourbon Street. So, for this segment we have a little section of the train to oursevles with a closing door (read: no masks!), completely horizontal beds, a shared shower, and access to complimentary meals in the dining car (so much for our coach class revolt).

More river borders: the Sabine River is the border between Louisiana and Texas. Upon crossing the river, we both were in Texas for the first time ever!

After passing through a similar landscape as Louisiana, we arrived in Houston.

Our roomette comes with complimentary meals and drinks and the seats fold out into two bunkbeds.

We continued on across Texas and arrived in San Antonio shortly after midnight.

The conductors announced that we would be stopped in San Antonio for about two hours (we were waiting for a new crew or passengers from another train, it is still unclear). Acting fast, I seized the moment, hopped off the train, ran a mile to the Alamo, and then ran back.

I made it back onto the train and Terri was sound asleep with no knowledge I ever left. In hindsight I had plenty of time to just walk there and back, but my heart was racing the whole time.

August 24

We woke up somewhere in western Texas traveling north along the US/Mexico border. We were a bit too far from the border (yet another river, the Rio Grande) to actually see it, but we still had amazing views of canyons, mountains, and deserts.

We passed through some cute little towns like Alpine, Texas.

And made it all the way west into El Paso. The train station in El Paso is right next to El Paso’s twin city in Mexico, Ciudad Juarez.

Pulling into El Paso we got close enough to see the border wall off in the distance, but then through El Paso we got right up to Ciudad Juarez close enough to feel like we were there. In New Mexico we again got right up next to the wall and could see even more.

Shortly after passing through El Paso, we crossed the Rio Grande into New Mexico. The Rio Grande is the border between the two states, but it also makes up a large portion of the border between Mexico and Texas.

On this trip we only passed through the bottom corner of New Mexico, but on our next trip we will pass through some major cities.

One thing we did see in New Mexico was a small thunderstorm in the middle of blue skies. I filmed at just the right moment to capture a lightning strike!

Near the Arizona border we sat down for dinner to some of the most amazing views we’ve ever had in a restaurant. (We also saw a rainbow over the mountains, but the picture looked fake.)

During dinner we crossed from New Mexico into Arizona, though sadly this border was not marked by a river.

In Arizona, we learned why this train line is called the Sunset Limited! (This photo also looks fake, but I can assure you that the sky was that bright. We think the cows in the video were just used to seeing the sunset and so they were not as impressed.)

August 25

We woke up today to see the sunrise on the Sunset in California. We were supposed to arrive in Los Angeles at 5am, but a freight train in front of us split in half in the middle of the night and we are now set to arrive around 10am. It is so sad the train is so delayed, especially since we had to sleep in longer and have an extra breakfast! Our next train isn’t until 6pm tonight, so we are still ok.

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